In the Kewa language they say paa is ‘light’
and yanda means ‘to fight’;
Manda means ‘that’s enough,’
Or sometimes other stuff.

Learning to talk a bit in the Kewa language
is a lot like eating a cheese sandwich;
It is squishy and messy and gets on your clothes
wraps around your tongue ends up your nose.

It involves using the lips and the jaw
supposedly to remind you of what you saw
So you put it in the dictionary and give it a name
sort of like playing a Scrabble game.

You speak and you stutter
and when you utter
Sounds or sentences appear
often hard on the Kewa ear.

But you go on
and before long
You are not considered crazy
or not even lazy.

JUST HAZY

September 2017